The Sea Itself
by TrinityC
Summary: On their journey West, Legolas and Gimli stop at a beach, and Legolas realises something about his people's relationship with the Sea.


Author's Note: This little piece rather wrote itself while I was wandering along a beach in Devon on holiday; suddenly there was Legolas meeting the Sea for the first time...although as I wrote, it seemed to turn into something of a sequel to my story "A Little Piece of the Sea", in which he found a way to see the ocean without the longing to sail West. This story stands alone, but you might wish to go and read "A Little Piece of the Sea" anyway; the link is on my profile page, if you do. *smile*

Thanks due, as always, to laiqalasse and Becki, for betaing and being unfailingly nice about my stuff.

  
  
  
**The Sea Itself**

We came to the mouth of the Anduin, and suddenly there it was, this great, wide expanse of Sea, wide and blue and scattered with little white-crested waves. I could not resist trailing my fingers in the water, over the side of the boat. Gimli laughed, his eyes crinkling up in amusement.

"Wetter than you expected, laddie?"

I smiled back at him but did not answer. I had seen the sea before, on many visits to Dol Amroth, but had never trusted myself to go down to the beach for fear I would be unable to leave. Now that we were sailing West at last, the Sea's call filled my ears, the pull of the tide tugged at my heart. I could feel it even more strongly in the water, and it was blissful, wonderful, like finally coming home.

"We could always beach the boat for an hour or so, if you want to get your feet wet. Valinor will not disappear if we do not go straight there." Gimli's voice was kind, avuncular, and again I marvelled at our uncommon friendship. I am more than thrice his age, and yet he is always the kindly old uncle who knows instinctively just what it is I want to do. I smiled broadly and looked around; there was a cove not far off, nestling among the cliffs, its golden sand bright and inviting. I steered straight for it, and soon was nosing the boat up onto the beach. I slipped off my boots and rolled up my leggings and leapt over the side of the boat, not bothering to conceal my eagerness, for Gimli knew me well enough to see it however well I might try to hide it. The water was surprisingly warm, and I closed my eyes for a moment and just _felt_. Then I opened my eyes and raised one eyebrow at Gimli; was he coming in?

"Not me, laddie," he said. "My bones are too old to stand all that splashing about. You go on and do whatever it is you're doing, and I'll wait here for you." And he settled back and closed his eyes, and in a moment was fast asleep. I felt a brief pain in my heart at how old and frail my friend had become, but the wash of the water around my ankles seemed to soothe it away. I walked a little way along the beach, watching the little clouds of sand that rose around my feet at each step, feeling the pull of the water as it slid back then tumbled in, tiny waves breaking one after the other on the sand. Clumps of seaweed tangled around my ankles, between my toes, and then were gone, swept away by the inexorable pull of the waves. The water washed the sand into ridges, erasing my footprints as I left them, as though I had never been there. I stood still for a moment, burrowing my toes into the sand, relishing the strange sensation as yet another wave pulled the sand out from around my feet.

The soft sound of the waves breaking seemed gradually to ease away all the pain I had almost ceased to realise that I carried, it had been with me for so long. Gimli's ageing, the deaths of Merry and Pippin, Sam's departure...Estel's death that very spring, the passing of my last link to this land that I loved. My people were long gone, and now I was going to join them, finally answering the call of the Sea.

The Sea...I had not seen it in almost a century, not since Imrahil's death. Without him I had nothing to quiet the longing, nothing to keep me bound to the shores of Middle-Earth. I no longer trusted myself near the ocean, lest I find myself unable to keep my vow to Elessar. So I retreated to Ithilien and forced my heart to heal, though it now held a gaping, aching void where once it had held the Prince of Dol Amroth.

And now, at last, the time had come for me to leave. Elessar was dead, Arwen gone to Lorien, where I was sure she, too, now slept the eternal sleep that is the Gift of Men. Only one friend had I left, and he was dozing in the little silver ship that would take us home. Slowly I realised that I felt no more pain, no more sadness for the passing of my friends, my lover. They were safe in the arms of their respective destinies, and soon I would be safe in the arms of mine. And I felt nothing any more but peace, the rushing of the waves, the cry of the gulls, the water lapping at my ankles and the soft sand beneath my feet. Perfect, eternal peace.

And finally I understood fully the call of the Sea. It was not just the call to sail West, to the lands of my people. For me, at least, it was the Sea itself, its greatness, its gentleness, the salt in the air and the wind on the water. I wondered how I ever felt truly alive under the trees, before this moment. I thought to myself that when we reached Valinor, I would build myself a house by the Sea, for now that I knew her I did not think that I could ever give her up.

The tide was coming in, rocking our little boat and threatening to dislodge it. Gimli slept on as I bade a silent farewell to the little cove and ran back along the beach, delighting in the splashing of the water beneath my feet. I pushed the boat out and jumped in, turning her around and setting our course for the distant West, a smile on my face and a song in my heart for the first time in almost a century.

Gimli opened one eye. "Feeling better for that?"

"Much better. Thank you." I meant more than simply gratitude for allowing us to stop, and he knew it. He lifted one shoulder in a tiny shrug.

"Don't mention it. Someone has to make you do the things you want to. Stubborn Elf."

"Grumpy Dwarf," I teased, and turned my face again towards the West. Yes, all was well at last, and I was going home. 


End file.
